Committee Members

Since commencing in the early 70’s on large hard rock TBM’s in Melbourne’s sewers, Ed has spent over 25 years of his professional career devoted to tunnelling, primarily in the construction sector of large scale water industry assets and a significant number of large transport tunnel projects in Australia and overseas. Ed has been an active ATS member through this period on both the Victorian committee and several conference committees and subsequently the National Executive, the last 2 years in the position of President. He is currently employed as Engineering Manager for the John Holland Tunnelling Team providing engineering management and technical support to current and potential future projects. John Holland is one of Australia’s major contractors in civil tunnelling and has been a major sponsor of ATS over the years.

Geoff ArcherTreasurer | John Holland Tunnelling | Business Development Manager

Geoff Archer is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and first joined the ATS in the 1980’s. He has served on the committees for both the Victorian and Queensland chapters of the ATS. In March 2015 he became Treasurer of the ATS National Committee. Geoff has over 25 years’ experience in the Tunnelling industry, the majority of which has been with construction contractors. He is currently John Holland’s Business Development Manager for Tunnelling, a role which covers John Holland’s tunnelling activities across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Harry Asche is the current chair of the ATS Queensland division. He is a Civil Engineer with 36 years’ experience and has a BE(Civil) from the University of Melbourne and a PhD from the University of Queensland. He holds a position with the University of Queensland as Adjunct Associate Professor.

Harry is Aurecon’s Design Director – Tunnels and he has provided technical leadership for many of Aurecon’s tunnels in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Tunnels that he has worked on include the Channel Tunnel (UK), the Brisbane Rail Tunnels, New Southern Railway, Northside Storage Tunnel, both in Sydney, and S1 sewer and South-East Busway in Brisbane. Harry then worked on a string of road tunnels including the Cross City Tunnel in Sydney, EastLink in Melbourne and the three TransApex Tunnels (Clem7, Airport Link and Legacy Way) in Brisbane. In New Zealand, Harry worked on Project Hobson, Rosedale and the Waterview Connection in Auckland. Recently Harry has worked on the Melbourne Metro, NorthConnex and WestConnex 2 projects. Harry is the author of over 30 conference and published papers on tunnelling.

Barry MooreWestern Australia Member | Aurecon | Technical Director

Barry is a Technical Director at Aurecon, and through his career he has worked predominantly in the rail industry, with a focus on below ground structures and tunnels. Barry started his career at British Rail and London Underground, developing particular expertise in brick lined tunnels and cast iron structures. Since moving to Australia in the early 2000s, Barry has worked on many of Perth’s major below ground infrastructure projects, including New MetroRail and the Forrestfield Airport Link, as well as international projects.

Barry has managed and participated in rail and below ground infrastructure projects in every stage of the project lifecycle, from concept and planning through detailed design and management and support for construction. Barry is also experienced in the strategic assessment of the requirements for project implementation both nationally and internationally, especially for both new and existing metro railways.

David GristVictoria Member | Lend Lease | Engineering Manager

David has extensive engineering skills developed over 25 years on a range of tunnelling, directional drilling and civil infrastructure related projects in Australia, UK and Asia. These projects have included a wide range of contract conditions, including PPP, Alliance, Design and Construct and Construct only, some of which have included Joint Venture partners. David has been an active member of the ATS Victorian Branch Committee over the last 5 years, including membership of the 2012 Short Course Organising Committee and Chair of the Bid Committee for the WTC2020 bid. David is currently employed as Engineering Manager for Lendlease, providing engineering management, programming, methodology and technical support to current and potential future projects.

Nigel first worked on transport related tunnel projects from 1998 with the redevelopment of London’s King’s Cross St Pancras Underground Station. A mechanical engineer, he has subsequently worked exclusively on transport projects including roles as tunnel systems designer / design team manager and more recently providing client side technical direction as Tunnel Technology Manager at Roads and Maritime Services (RMS). Nigel currently represents RMS on the Austroads Tunnel Task Force and represents Austroads as a corresponding member to the World Road Association Road Tunnel Operations Committee. He has a specific interest in developing tunnel systems awareness and capability, as well as forging stronger links with industry bodies such as the Australian Tunnel Operator’s Group (ATOG). Nigel was the organising committee chairperson for the successful ATS2017 conference.

Keith BannermanATSym Chair | Bamser | Associate

Keith has been an active ATS member since joining as a student in 2007, and enjoys encouraging students and other young engineers to consider and pursue careers in the dynamic and highly rewarding underground construction industry. This year he became the ATSym Representative taking over the role previously held by Jurij Karlovšek. He is currently an Associate for Bamser operating out of the Sydney office and is involved in the planning and delivery of large civil tunnelling infrastructure across the Sydney area.

John GelsonAuSS Representative | Normet | Regional Manager

John is a qualified mining engineer who has spent nearly 40 years in the Mining and Tunnelling industry. Working in production, contracting and finally supply and technical support, John has a holistic understanding of the tunneling market. John presently works for Normet Asia Pacific as the Regional Manager ANZ.

David Lees has over 35 years international experience in tunnelling and underground construction. David became a member of ATS soon after coming to Australia in 1995. He has been a member of the National Committee since 1997 and took on the responsibility as Editor of the journal which he has carried out ever since. He is a founding member of Grouting and Foundation Works Australia and in recent years David has been providing Site Supervision on major international tunnelling projects in SE Asia.